COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 12, 2011) – The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team lost to China 16-25, 25-13, 29-27, 25-23 in the Montreux Volley Masters bronze-medal match on Sunday afternoon in Montreux, Switzerland.

China had defeated the U.S. in five sets to conclude Pool A before both teams lost their semifinal matches. At last year’s Montreux Volley Masters, China defeated the U.S. in the gold-medal match. Outside of the three losses to China in the last two Montreux Volley Masters events, the U.S. is 4-0 against China dating back to 2008.

The U.S. used an 8-1 scoring run to overcome a 12-11 deficit in the opening set to win 25-16 as China committed seven errors and six different Americans scored between two and four points. The set contained 10 ties and three lead changes by the 25th point of the set. China bounced back to take an early 9-3 lead in the second set to even the match with a 25-13 win as the Americans committed seven errors and the Chinese put up five blocks in the set. The U.S. battled back from a 19-14 deficit in the third set to tie the set at 24-all, but China captured the set 29-27 on its sixth set-point opportunity. China bounced back from a 20-17 deficit in the fourth set with 7-1 scoring run en route to winning the set 25-23 and the match.

Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) led the U.S. with a match-high 18 points via 13 kills, three blocks and two aces. Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) came off the bench and scores all 14 of her points on kills in the final two sets. Jennifer Tamas (Milpitas, Calif.) contributed eight kills, three blocks and an ace for 12 points. Alexis Crimes (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) charted four kills, two aces and a block for seven points, while Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) posted six kills in the loss. Kristin Richards (Orem, Utah) tallied five kills coming off the bench, while Kim Glass (Lancaster, Pa.) added four kills in the first two sets. Nellie Spicer (Barrington, Ill.) tallied two kills and a block for three points, while Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) rounded out the scoring with a kill.

The U.S. held advantages in kills (57-52) and aces (5-4), but China controlled the net defense with a 13-8 block advantage. In addition, China limited its errors to 18, nine of which were service errors, to the Americans’ 26 errors. Both teams converted 37 percent of their attacks for kills, but China held a .288 hitting efficiency with 12 errors to Team USA’s .215 hitting efficiency with 24 attack errors.

Karch Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.), who is serving as head coach the U.S. squad during the current trip to Switzerland, started Tamas and Crimes at middle blocker, Larson and Kim Glass at outside hitter, Spicer at setter and Haneef-Park at opposite. Davis was the team’s libero.

Yunli Xu paced China with 15 points, including a match-high five blocks. Jie Yang and Ruoqi Hui contributed 14 points apiece in the victory, while Junjing Yang and Linlin Fan totaled 12 points as all five starting China hitters reached a dozen points in a balanced offense.

The U.S. took a 5-3 lead in the opening set after a China service error and block by Larson as six of the first seven points of the set were scored on errors. China tied the set at 5-all on a block and an American error, then took an 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout on a block. China extended the lead to two points at 11-9 with consecutive points. The Americans tied the set at 11-al with a Tamas block after a Glass kill, then went ahead 13-12 on a Larson kill after a China service error. The U.S. added to the lead with a Crimes kill and Tamas ace at 15-12. Crimes, Spicer and Haneef-Park scored consecutive kills to extend the American advantage to 18-13. Out of China’s second timeout, Haneef-Park added a fourth straight point for the U.S. to establish a 19-13 lead. Team USA used another 4-0 run with two kills from Crimes and a Larson ace to push the score to 23-14, then captured the set 25-16 on a service rotation with Richards at the line. Larson and Crimes each scored four points in the opening set, while Haneef-Park and Spicer totaled three points. The Americans held a 14-9 advantage in kills and 2-0 margin in aces, while China committed seven miscues.

China gained a 6-2 advantage in the second set with a 5-1 scoring run. China reached the first technical timeout up 8-3 on consecutive points, then came out of the break with an ace. China continued the pressure with back-to-back points at 11-4 leading into a USA timeout, then gained a 13-5 advantage after an ace. Glass put down a kill and Crimes followed with an ace to slice the gap to 13-7, but China answered with consecutive points to gain an eight-point cushion at 15-7. Tamas and Larson crushed consecutive kills to cut the gap to 15-9. China served an ace and picked up an American error coming out of the second technical timeout for an 18-9 advantage. Tamas picked up a kill and block to close the margin to 18-11, only to have China answer with two straight points to regain a nine-point advantage at 20-11. The China lead reached double-figures at 22-12 with back-to-back points and went on to win 25-13. Tamas scored four points in the second set to lead the Americans.

The U.S. scored the first three points of the third set with a Tamas block and Richards kill following a China error. China claimed the next points to close to 3-2, then scored three straight points heading into the first technical timeout leading 8-7. China increased its margin to 13-10 with four of the next five points, then reached the second technical timeout with a four-point cushion at 16-12. Fawcett and Larson scored kills after the break to cut the gap in half at 16-14, but China answered with three straight points for a 19-14 lead. Larson and Fawcett connected for kills to cut the deficit to three points at 19-16. Team USA narrowed the gap to two points with kills from Richards and Fawcett at 21-19. The U.S. battled back to within one at 23-22 following kills from Fawcett and Larson. The Americans tied the set at 24-all with a Fawcett kill and double-contact error on the China set. However, China captured the set 29-27 on its sixth set point opportunity. Fawcett scored a team-high seven points in the third set coming off the bench, while Larson added five points. The Americans committed nine errors in the set and China put up four blocks.

The Americans earned the first two points of the fourth set with a Crimes ace and Tamas kill, only to have China score five of the next six points for a 5-3 advantage. The U.S. tied the set at 6-all with a block and kill from Larson, then Fawcett put the Americans in front with a kill at 7-6. However, China served an ace to take an 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout. Larson served an ace after a China service error to push the Americans in front 10-9. The lead reversed to China at 13-12. The U.S. went back in front 15-14 with consecutive kills by Larson and Alisha Glass, then picked up its first two-point cushion of the set at 16-14 on a China attack error. Team USA extended the lead to 18-15 with back-to-back kills by Larson and Fawcett. China closed the gap to a single point at 20-19 with back-to-back points. China tied the set at 21-all with a block leading to the Americans’ second timeout, then came out of the break with a third, fourth and fifth straight points to take a 24-21 advantage with match-point in hand. Team USA saved two match points with a Tamas kill and block before China closed out the set 25-23. Fawcett totaled a team-high seven points for the U.S. in the fourth set, while Larson scored six points.